Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Podcastin' up a storm! Episode 3 and 4 recap!

Wow, the Brainwrap in Theater 3 podcast has really gotten off to a great start. I mean, it's not getting insane ratings or anything, but I've had some really great guests on the show so far. It's already looking like I'll be able to put an episode out every week, which I guess is the major benefit of doing such a lo-fi/hi-tech podcasting service and being limited to a half-hour an episode.

If you haven't kept up, here's a convenient little player from BlogtalkRadio that can stream all four episodes from January!

Not only that, but we're now on Stitcher Radio, which is a really awesome app for smartphones. It will allow you to listen to the show right on your phone and not have to download and sync to a mobile device. I'm really stoked about this, because that's how I listen to otherpodcasts that I love.

Anyway, I also got on Twitter for the podcast, despite saying that I'd never go down that road. I don't have a lot of followers, so if you've been enjoying my film related rambles, then follow me @BrainwrapPod. It's also the easiest way to find out when I have guests, since I don't always get to set down for a blog before a show.

Mark shared a lot of great stories behind the making of his low-budget Super8 films, though it's clear he's not too keen on ever revisiting the format.

It's interesting how in 2011, the people who are shooting Super8 are the filmmakers that have only been around in the era of non-linear video editing that want to try and "get back to the roots" of making movies. For example, 2:22producer Tim Anderson (who also co-financed my film, Die and Let Live) is currently raising funds for a film to be shot on Kodak Tri-X black-and-white Super8.

However, the guys that were making Super8 films back in the day might not be as interested to revisit the format. I'd say from Mark's recollections, the risks taken in physically having to cut your only camera print are just too stressful. And while a Super8 telecine at 1080p will look fantastic and fit perfectly into a Final Cut or Avid workflow, there's always that chance of a faulty cartridge or failing camera that could greatly risk your image quality. The Super8 filmmakers of the '70s and '80s know that horror all too well.

But still, filmmakers who are trying to add grain and damage to simulate a film look to their digital video production: you're not fooling anyone. Shoot it on film if that's what you want. You might even learn how to calculate a shooting ratio and stop shooting 20 hours of video for your 30 minute short!
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I tweeted Jack Frost director Michael Cooney about appearing on the podcast and sure enough, it worked. He was a really fantastic guest on the show and had a lot of information to share about his background as a playwright, as well as some exclusive stories about the creation of Jack Frost.

For example, did you know that the film was originally intended to be a big-budget science-fiction/action film? According to Cooney, the script was written with an Abyss-era James Cameronbudget in mind, but ended up taking an offer of $1 million from Prism - a studio that went bankrupt as production began.

As a result, the budget was slashed even further and the film's effects were played for laughs more than horrors. And I must say, Cooney certainly succeeded in making the film as entertaining as possible with all the problems they faced.

He was also able to make our short half-hour show as entertaining as possible, providing some great stories about the production, as well as some exclusive news:

Michael Cooney is currently working on a pilot for ABC called Inhuman. He also has a new movie coming out from The Weinstein Company, but it seems that they're not certain on the title that it will be released under. The production title was Shelter, but The Weinstein Company are considering changing the title to Possessed.

But regardless of the title of the film, it will still be coming out on Feburary 25th, 2011 and stars Julianne Moore and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Michael asked us to get the word out about the film, since they're going to be very far behind in marketing with the title switch. We'll be sure to keep you posted on when Possessed/Shelter is available and hopefully we'll get to see Inhuman hit ABC in the fall!

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About Me

A 23-year-old film geek who also directed the indie horror-comedy DIE AND LET LIVE and the web series 2 DUDES AND A SWEET PRINCE. Channell used to write reviews for his college paper, The Daily Athenaeum, and has since continued here on this blog.